Stocks Mixed in Early Trading after Jobs Data

U.S. stocks were mixed in the early trading on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average flipped into negative territory as declines in Goldman Sachs and Boeing Co. offset a record rally in Apple’s stock, after robust October jobs data report. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately fell 17.59 points, or 0.07%, to 23,498.67. The S&P 500 gave up 1.36 points, or 0.05%, to 2,578.49. The Nasdaq Composite was up 1.29 points, or 0.02%, to 6,716.23.

Crude oil prices moved firmly higher on Friday, trading at a more than two-year high as traders continued to cheer signs the marker is rebalancing and hints OPEC will extend its production cuts. West Texas Intermediate crude oil for December rose 27 cents, or 0.5%, to $54.80 a barrel. Brent for January gained 17 cents, or 0.3%, to $60.79 a barrel.

The U.S. economy added 261,000 jobs in October, meeting expectations that the country had rebounded from damage wrought by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. The jobless rate ticked down to 4.1 percent, the lowest level since 2000, and year-over-year wage growth sank to 2.4 percent, according to Friday’s report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.